However, most Americans hold an even more unfavorable view of ISIS, which they generally believe the U.S. is not doing enough to stop. While 83 percent approve of the ongoing airstrikes against ISIS, 76 percent support increasing the airstrikes, and a majority even support sending in a limited number of ground troops to fight against ISIS in Syria and Iraq.
In the war on terrorism, most Americans (64 percent) believe that the Islamist extremists are gaining ground, while only slightly more than one quarter of all Americans believe the extremists are losing ground.
Once again, with respect to Iran, belief that the U.S. is concentrating too much on preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons is in the single digits, with only seven percent holding that view, while 57 percent, including 39 percent of Democrats, believe that the U.S. is not aggressive enough in trying to stop Iran.
Finally, taking a key point made by Netanyahu during his speech to Congress last week, Americans were asked: “Do you think it’s a good idea or a bad idea to allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons ten years from now in return for it agreeing not to obtain nuclear weapons before then?”
The answer to this was unequivocal: Eighty four percent of all Americans thought this was a bad idea. Breaking it down into cohorts, 80 percent of Democrats disapprove, 90 percent of Republicans, 85 percent of men, 83 percent of women, 85 percent of whites, 79 percent of blacks, 82 percent of those with college degrees and even 78 percent of those under the age of 35, the most liberal, anti-war group, thinks this is a bad idea.